Russia will provide Hungary with a loan for the construction of a new nuclear power plant – Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Amendments to the intergovernmental agreement with Hungary on the provision of a state loan for the construction of a nuclear power plant has been ratified by Russia. The corresponding law was signed on December 6 by the President of the Russian Federation. The document was published on the official portal of legal information.
The protocol, signed on May 7, 2021, refers to an agreement from 2014, according to which Russia uses Hungary’s export credit – up to 10 billion – for the construction of two additional nuclear power units (5 and 6) using Russian reactors near the city of Paks.
Due to the long approval of the project in the European Union, Hungary did not meet the deadline, construction began with a great delay, only in 2019. In 2020, Hungary asked Russia to extend the term for using the loan until the end of 2030 (by five years) and postpone the start of payments on the principal debt from 2026 to 2031. At the same time, the final maturity date of the obligations of the Hungarian side remained unchanged – September 15, 2046. Russia agreed to the proposed conditions. The repayment of the current debt on interest on the loan remained unchanged.
Hungary is one of the countries with the highest share of nuclear generation in the energy balance in the world. More than half of the country’s electricity is generated by the Paks nuclear power plant. After the construction of two more nuclear power units, the share of capacity in the country’s energy balance may exceed 70%.